Search

Background: No consensus has been concluded with regarding to the scope of lymph node (LN) dissection for Siewert type II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG). This study aimed to explore risk factors for lower perigastric LN (LPLN) metastases (including no. 4d, 5, 6, and 12a LN stations) and analyze the indications for LPLN dissection. Methods: In total, 302 consecutive patients with Siewert type II and III AEG who underwent total gastrectomy (TG) were enrolled. The logistic regression model was used to perform uni- and multivariate analyses of risk factors for LPLN metastases. Kaplan–Meier curves were used for survival analysis, and log-rank tests were used for group comparisons. Basing on the guidelines of Japanese Gastric Cancer Association, the LN metastases (LNM) as well as the efficiency index (EI) of each LN station was further evaluated. Results: The independent risk factors for LPLN metastases in patients with Siewert type II and III AEG were distance from the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) to the distal end of the tumor (> 4.0 cm), preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (+), pT4 stage, and HER-2 (+). LPLN metastases was an independent risk factor for overall survival following TG. The LNM and EI of LPLN were 8.6% and 2.31%, respectively. The LNM of LPLN > 10% under the stratification of the distance from the EGJ to the distal end of the tumor (> 4.0 cm), pT4, preoperative CEA (+), and HER-2 (+) exhibited EI values of 3.55%, 2.09%, 2.51%, and 3.64%, respectively. Conclusions: LPLN metastases was a malignant factor for the prognosis of patients with Siewert type II and III AEG. For patients with preoperative CEA (+), pT4 stage, HER-2 (+), and the distance from the EGJ to the distal end of the tumor (> 4.0 cm), TG with LPLN dissection is prioritized for clinical recommendation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient Ni-catalyzed four-component 1,4-carbocarbonylation of 1,3-enynes with activated alkyl halides and arylboronic acids under atmospheric pressure of CO is presented. By tuning the electronic and steric effects of alkyl radicals, both electron-rich and electron-deficient 1,3-enynes were compatible with this cascade. This protocol features mild conditions, broad substrate scope, excellent functional group compatibility and facile gram-scale synthesis, providing a practical approach to the quaternary carbon center-containing allenyl ketones. Mechanistic study revealed that the acyl-NiII species plays an important role in both the coupling and the alkyl radical generation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toilet paper has been reported as one of the major insoluble pollutant components in the influent of wastewater treatment plants. Toilet paper fibers contribute to a large production of sewage sludge, resulting in a high treatment cost and high energy consumption. To find energy-efficient, cost-effective, and environment-friendly technologies for fiber removal and resource recovery from wastewater, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to analyze the wastewater treatment processes, including a sieving process for removing and recovering suspended solids before the biodegradation units. Based on the LCA results, it was estimated that the sieve screening process saved 8.57% of energy consumption. The construction phase of sieving consumed 1.31% energy cost compared with the operation phase. Environmental impact analysis showed that sieving reduced the impacts of climate change, human toxicity, fossil depletion, and particulate matter formation, which reduced the total normalized environmental impacts by 9.46%. The life-cycle analysis of the removal of toilet paper fibers from wastewater revealed the need to use more efficient methods to enhance the recovery of cellulose fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to discuss the safety and feasibility of applying π-shaped esophagojejunal anastomosis in laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG). Case series analysis was utilized, cross-sectional method was used, and clinicopathological data from63 gastric cancer patients were gathered. Of the enrolled patients, 43 underwent laparoscopic total gastrectomy, dissociation of the esophagus and stomach, lymph node dissection and π-shaped anastomosis to complete laparoscopic reconstruction of the digestive tract. The other 20 patients underwent traditional open total gastrectomy (OTG). According to the unified statistical method, we calculated the ASA score results. In the case of laparoscopic total gastrectomy, π-shaped esophagojejunal anastomosis was successful. There was a significant difference in various preoperative physiological indexes, like tumor stage between the two groups. The average operative time of the laparoscopic total gastrectomy group was higher than that of the open total gastrectomy group, while the average intraoperative hemorrhage and postoperative recovery time were less than those of the open total gastrectomy group. The findings suggested that the application of π-shaped esophagojejunal anastomosis in laparoscopic total gastrectomy is safe and feasible based on the comparison of the short-term and long-term effects of the two groups of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have received increasing attention due to their widespread presence in diverse environments including wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their potential adverse health effects. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one of the most detected forms of PFASs in WWTPs. However, there is still a paucity of knowledge about the effect of PFASs on microorganisms of the key component of WWTP, activated sludge. In this study, lab-scale microcosm experiments were established to evaluate the influences of PFOA on activated sludge microbes under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The diversity, structure, and microbe-microbe interaction of microbial community were determined by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and co-occurrence network analysis. After 90 days of exposure to PFOA, activated sludge microbial richness decreased under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Specifically, under aerobic condition, Rhodopseudomonas (mean relative abundance 3.6%), Flavobacterium (2.4%), and Ignavibacterium (6.6%) were enriched in PFOA-spiked activated sludge compared with that in the unspiked sludge (2.6%, 0.1%, and 1.9%, respectively). By contrast, after 90 days of exposure to PFOA, Eubacterium (2.1%), Hyphomicrobium (1.8%), and Methyloversatilis (1.2%) were enriched under anaerobic condition, and more abundant than that in the control sludge (0.4%, 1.5%, and 0.6%, respectively). These genera were the potential PFOA-resistant members. In addition, Azospirillum and Sporomusa were the most connected taxa in PFOA-aerobic and PFOA-anaerobic networks, respectively. Prediction of the functional gene showed that PFOA inhibited some gene expression of sludge microbes, such as transcription, amino acid transport and metabolism, and energy production and conversion. In summary, continued exposure to PFOA induced substantial shifts of the sludge bacterial diversity and composition under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) are primary environmental contaminants that often co-exist at contaminated sites. Though the microbial community compositions of As- and Sb-contaminated sites have been previously described, the changes in microbial community interactions and community functions remain elusive. In the current study, several key metabolic processes, such as As/Sb detoxification and carbon fixation, were enriched under heavily contaminated conditions. Furthermore, the identified keystone taxa, which are associated with the families Nitrosomonadaceae, Pedosphaeraceae, Halieaceae, and Latescibacterota, demonstrated positive correlations with As and Sb concentrations, indicating that they may be resistant to As and Sb toxicities. Accordingly, arsenic resistance–related functions, along with several functions such as carbon fixation, were found to be enriched in heavily contaminated sites. The current study elucidated the key microbial populations in As- and Sb-contaminated rice terraces and may provide useful information for remediation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen (N) shortage poses a great challenge to the implementation of in situ bioremediation practices in mining-contaminated sites. Diazotrophs can fix atmospheric N2 into a bioavailable form to plants and microorganisms inhabiting adverse habitats. Increasing numbers of studies mainly focused on the diazotrophic communities in the agroecosystems, while those communities in mining areas are still not well understood. This study compared the variations of diazotrophic communities in composition and interactions in the mining areas with different extents of arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) contamination. As and Sb co-contamination increased alpha diversities and the abundance of nifH encoding the dinitrogenase reductase, while inhibited the diazotrophic interactions and substantially changed the composition of communities. Based on the multiple lines of evidence (e.g., the enrichment analysis of diazotrophs, microbe-microbe network, and random forest regression), six diazotrophs (e.g., Sinorhizobium, Dechloromonas, Trichormus, Herbaspirillum, Desmonostoc, and Klebsiella) were identified as keystone taxa. Environment-microbe network and random forest prediction demonstrated that these keystone taxa were highly correlated with the As and Sb contamination fractions. All these results imply that the above-mentioned diazotrophs may be resistant to metal(loid)s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensive application of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) causes their frequent detection in various environments. In this work, two typical PFASs, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), are selected to investigate their effects on soil microorganisms. Microbial community structure and microbe–microbe relationships were investigated by high-throughput sequencing and co-occurrence network analysis. Under 90 days of exposure, the alpha-diversity of soil microbial communities was increased with the PFOS treatment, followed by the PFOA treatment. The exposure of PFASs substantially changed the compositions of soil microbial communities, leading to the enrichment of more PFASs-tolerant bacteria, such as Proteobacteria, Burkholderiales, and Rhodocyclales. Comparative co-occurrence networks were constructed to investigate the microbe–microbe interactions under different PFASs treatments. The majority of nodes in the PFOA and PFOS networks were associated with the genus Azospirillum and Hydrogenophaga, respectively. The LEfSe analysis further identified a set of biomarkers in the soil microbial communities, such as Azospirillum, Methyloversatilis, Hydrogenophaga, Pseudoxanthomonas, and Fusibacter. The relative abundances of these biomarkers were also changed by different PFASs treatments. Functional gene prediction suggested that the microbial metabolism processes, such as nucleotide transport and metabolism, cell motility, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, energy production and conversion, and secondary metabolites biosynthesis transport and catabolism, might be inhibited under PFAS exposure, which may further affect soil ecological services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of citric acid (CA) chelator to facilitate metal bioavailability is a promising approach for the phytoextraction of heavy metal contaminants. However, the role of the CA chelator associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation on phytoextraction of vanadium (V) has not been studied. Therefore, in this study, a greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the combined effect of CA chelator and AMF inoculation on growth performance and V phytoextraction of plants in V-contaminated soil. The experiment was performed via CA (at 0, 5, and 10 mM kg-1 soil levels) application alone or in combination with AMF inoculation by Medicago sativa Linn. (M. sativa). Plant biomass, root mycorrhizal colonization, P and V accumulation, antioxidant enzyme activity in plants, and soil chemical speciation of V were evaluated. Results depicted (1) a marked decline in plant biomass and root mycorrhizal colonization in 5- and 10-mM CA treatments which were accompanied by a significant increased V accumulation in plant tissues. The effects could be attributed to the enhanced acid-soluble V fraction transferring from the reducible fraction. (2) The presence of CA significantly enhanced P acquisition while the P/V concentration ratio in plant shoots and roots decreased, owing to the increased V translocation from soil to plant. (3) In both CA-treated soil, AMF-plant symbiosis significantly improved dry weight (31.4–73.3%) and P content (37.3–122.5%) in shoots and roots of M. sativa. The combined treatments also showed markedly contribution in reduction of malondialdehyde (MDA) content (12.8–16.2%) and higher antioxidants (SOD, POD, and CAT) activities in the leaves. This suggests their combination could promote growth performance and stimulate antioxidant response to alleviate V stress induced by CA chelator. (4) Taken together, 10 mM kg-1 CA application and AMF inoculation combination exhibited a higher amount of extracted V both in plant shoots and roots. Thus, citric acid–AMF–plant symbiosis provides a novel remediation strategy for in situ V phytoextraction by M. sativa in V-contaminated soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil contamination due to mining activities is a great concern in China. Although the effects of mining pollution resulting in changes of soil characteristics and the microbiome have been documented, studies on the responses of plant root-associated microbial assemblages remain scarce. In this work, we collected bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and root endosphere samples of Cyperus rotundus L (Cyp) plants from two Pb/Zn mines, of which, one was abandoned (SL) and the other was active (GD), to investigate the bacterial community responses across different site contamination levels and Cyp plant compartments. For comparison, one unpolluted site (SD) was included. Results revealed that soils from the SL and GD sites were seriously contaminated by metal(loid)s, including Pb, Zn, As, and Sb. Bacterial richness and diversity depended on the sampling site and plant compartment. All sample types from the SL site had the lowest bacterial diversities and their bacterial communities also exhibited distinct patterns compared to GD and SD samples. As for the specific sampling site, bacterial communities from the root endosphere exhibited different patterns from those in bulk and rhizosphere soil. Compared to the GD and SD sites, the root endosphere and the rhizosphere soil from the SL site shared core microbes, including Halomonas, Pelagibacterium, and Chelativorans, suggesting that they play key roles in Cyp plant survival in such harsh environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cage compounds such as hexanitroadamantane (HNA) and hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (HNIW, CL-20) constitute an important category of energetic compounds owing to the strained compact cage structure. Introduction of energetic substituents on the cage skeleton can further improve their energetic performance. In this paper, 24 substituted derivatives of fluorine-containing energetic groups of HNA are studied at the M06-2X/6-31G* level of density functional theory. The densities close to the experimental values are obtained by using the fitting equation. Based on the calculated densities and heats of formation, detonation properties are predicted using the modified Kamlet-Jacobs equations according to the largest exothermic principle. The contribution to detonation performance of various groups has the order of –C(NO2)2NF2 > –SF5 > –C(NO2)2F > –NF2 > –OCF3 > –CF3 > –F > –SCF3. As more fluorine-containing groups being introduced, detonation velocities and pressures increase quickly. Thermal stability has been discussed by the bond dissociation energies. The C-NO2 bond is the trigger bond of all the studied compounds. According to the energetics and stability criteria as a high energy density compound (HEDC), B2, B3, B7, C2, and C7 are the good candidates. The influences of the fluorine-containing groups found in this study will be beneficial to design of new fluorinated HEDCs by modifying structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uses of biochar as soil fertilizer can offset global warming and reduce dependence on limited mineral resources in the future circular economy, yet biochar may contain contaminants that can ultimately enter the food chain. In particular, persistent free radicals are emerging contaminants previously detected in biochar but underlying mechanisms of radical formation are not yet established. Here we studied radical generation during hydrothermal carbonization of waste sludge at 160–220 ºC for 0.5–2 h with solid weight ratios of 10%w–40%w using electron paramagnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. Results reveal that radical concentration increases with temperature, reaction time, and weight ratio in sludge biochars, reaching a content of 47.2 × 1015 spins/g for 220 ºC, 2 h heating, and 40%w solid ratio. Moreover, low temperature of about 160 ºC favors the production of oxygen-centered radicals, whereas higher temperature of 220 ºC produces carbon-centered radicals. Our findings imply that biochar ecotoxicity should be assessed prior applications to prevent adverse health effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the integrated remediation of SW/GW and soil in the rural river network area, the integrated remediation in rural river network area project (IR-RRNA), funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, has been launched. In eastern China, the rural river network area (RRNA) is an anthropic active area characterized by its rapid economic development and high gross national product. However, the water environmental pollution in these areas is increasingly severe, which has greatly hindered their sustainable development. Especially, the frequent interactions between surface/groundwater (SW–GW) have intensified the pollution migration and transformation in RRNA. The IR-RRNA (2019–2022) will apply the related interdisciplinary and methodological knowledge to elucidate the transportation and transformation of pollutants in water and soil during SW–GW interaction and develop remediation technologies of surface water, groundwater, and soil suitable for the RRNA. In this way, to realize the remediation technologies integration for surface/groundwater and soil in RRNA and implementing application demonstration. Meanwhile, a technical guideline will be compiled for the integrated remediation suitable for the RRNA. This project is conducive to addressing the urgent environmental problems as well as promoting rural economic revitalization and ecological environment optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major pollutants in air, soils and sediments. PAH-polluted soils can be cleaned rapidly by thermal treatment. PAH volatilization is considered as the main process explaining PAH removal at low temperature, yet other processes may occur. Particularly, we hypothesize that thermal transformation can also explain PAH removal, where transformation refers to both degradation and formation of bound PAHs. We thus studied the removal of spiked benzo[a]pyrene at 0.5 mg/g in bauxite soil, fluvo-aquic soil, chernozem soil, montmorillonite, humin, and quartz sand as control, from 100 to 200 °C. We measured concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene in the volatilized fraction and solid residues by high-performance liquid chromatography. We identified transformation products by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Results show that the contribution of thermal transformation to the removal of benzo[a]pyrene increased from 24.7 to 58.4 wt% for bauxite soil, from 4.4 to 38.2 wt% for fluvo-aquic soil, and from 11.5 to 35.9 wt% for chernozem soil, with temperature increasing from 100 to 200 °C. Transformation such as oxidation occurred in all samples except in benzo[a]pyrene-spiked quartz sands. Transformation of benzo[a]pyrene was thus partly explained by the presence of clay minerals, as evidenced for the montmorillonite assay where transformation contributed 74.6 wt% to the total removal of benzo[a]pyrene at 200 °C. Overall, our findings demonstrate a major overlooked contribution of transformation to PAH removal at low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acid mine discharge (AMD) has been demonstrated to have significant impacts on microbial community composition in the surrounding soil environment. However, their effect on adjacent soil has not been extensively studied. In this study, microbial community composition of 20 AMD-contaminated soil samples collected from an abandoned coal mine along an AMD creek was characterized using high-throughput sequencing. All samples were characterized as extremely low in pH (< 3) and relatively enriched in HCl-extractable Fe species. The dominant phylotypes were belonging to genera Ochrobactrum, Acidiphilium, Staphylococcus, Brevibacterium, and Corynebacterium. Canonical correspondence analysis results revealed that the HCl-extractable Fe(III) had a strong impact on the soil microbial assemblage. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that Aquicella, Acidobacteriaceae, Ochrobactrum, Enhydrobacter, Sphingomonas, and Legionellales were actively correlated with other taxa. As expected, most of the abundant taxa have been reported as acidophilic Fe-metabolizing bacteria. Hence, a co-occurring sub-network and a phylogenetic tree related to microbial taxa responsible for Fe metabolism were constructed and described. The biotic interaction showed that Dechloromonas exhibited densely connections with Fe(III)-reducing bacteria of Comamonas, Burkholderia, Shewanella, Stenotrophomonas, Acidithiobacillus, and Pseudomonas. These results demonstrated that Fe-metabolizing bacteria could have an important role in the Fe biogeochemical cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the environment, persistent free radicals (PFR) have adverse effects on human health. PFR are generated by thermal conversion of biomass, such as hydrothermal carbonization to produce hydrochar. So far, the mechanism and control factors of PFR production in hydrochar are poorly known. Therefore, we investigated here the impacts of hydrothermal temperature, residence time and solid load on the formation of PFR in hydrochar from hydrothermal carbonization of rice straw, by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectrometers. Results show that the EPR signal intensity increased with increasing hydrothermal temperature from 180 to 240 °C and then decreased at 260 °C. A shorter residence time and a higher solid load led to formation of more PFR in hydrochar. The types of PFR also depended on hydrothermal temperature, residence time and solid load. This is the first report on the formation of PFR and relevant influencing factors during hydrothermal conversion of biomass. Based on these results, hydrochar from hydrothermal conversion of biomass at relatively higher temperature, i.e., 260 °C, longer residence time, i.e., 4 h, and lower solid load, i.e., 1:10, is suggested for safer application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visible light-responsive photocatalyst BiVO4/SiO2/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was synthesized by hydrothermal method. For easy collection and reuse in slurry systems, RGO/BiVO4/SiO2 was immobilized on the cotton fiber by ultrasonic-heating technology. The characterization results indicated that the surface of cotton fiber was uniformly covered with BiVO4/SiO2/RGO photocatalyst. The loaded BiVO4/SiO2/RGO endowed the composite fibers with an excellent photocatalytic activity and recyclability for the degradation of the C.I. Reactive Blue 19 under visible light irradiation. The introduction of RGO exhibited the great dispersibility of photocatalyst in aqueous solution and the high absorbance of positive metal ions, which enhanced its photocatalytic performance. Given the above research results, the flexible fiber-based BiVO4/SiO2/RGO composite would have potential applications in the water/air purification field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion is a complicated microbiological process that involves a wide diversity of microorganisms. Acetate is one of the most important intermediates, and interactions between acetate-oxidizing bacteria and archaea could play an important role in the formation of methane in anoxic environments. Anaerobic digestion at thermophilic temperatures is known to increase methane production, but the effects on the microbial community are largely unknown. In the current study, stable isotope probing was used to characterize acetate- and lactate-oxidizing bacteria in thermophilic anaerobic digestion. In microcosms fed C-acetate, bacteria related to members of Clostridium, Hydrogenophaga, Fervidobacterium, Spirochaeta, Limnohabitans, and Rhodococcus demonstrated elevated abundances of C-DNA fractions, suggesting their activities in acetate oxidation. In the treatments fed C-lactate, Anaeromyxobacter, Desulfobulbus, Syntrophus, Cystobacterineae, and Azospira were found to be the potential thermophilic lactate utilizers. PICRUSt predicted that enzymes related to nitrate and nitrite reduction would be enriched in C-DNA fractions, suggesting that the acetate and lactate oxidation may be coupled with nitrate and/or nitrite reduction. Co-occurrence network analysis indicated bacterial taxa not enriched in C-DNA fractions that may also play a critical role in thermophilic anaerobic digestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of antibiotic residues in the environment has been regarded as an emerging concern due to their potential adverse environmental consequences such as antibiotic resistance. However, the interaction between antibiotics and extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) of biofilms in wastewater treatment systems is not entirely clear. In this study, the effect of ciprofloxacin (CIP) antibiotic on biofilm EPS matrix was investigated and characterized using fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) and parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis. Physicochemical analysis showed that the proteins were the major EPS fraction, and their contents increased gradually with an increase in CIP concentration (0-300 μg/L). Based on the characterization of biofilm tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) by EEM, three fluorescent components were identified by PARAFAC analysis. Component C1 was associated with protein-like substances, and components C2 and C3 belonged to humic-like substances. Component C1 exhibited an increasing trend as the CIP addition increased. Pearson's correlation results showed that CIP correlated significantly with the protein contents and component C1, while strong correlations were also found among UV, dissolved organic carbon, humic acids, and component C3. A combined use of EEM-PARAFAC analysis and chemical measurements was demonstrated as a favorable approach for the characterization of variations in biofilm EPS in the presence of CIP antibiotic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activated sludge system is an important process of domestic and industrial wastewater treatment containing highly diverse microbial communities. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was applied to examine the microbial community composition and diversity of activated sludge samples from four full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Shanghai. A relationship between microbial communities and environmental variables was examined. Proteobacteria was the most dominant phylogenetic group, followed by Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. A total of 166 genera were commonly shared by all seven sludge samples, including Zoogloea, Dechloromonas, Thauera, Nitrospira, Arcobacter, etc. Besides these shared populations, certain unique bacterial populations were found abundant in individual sludge sample. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that influent COD and pH had the greatest influence on microbial community compositions, whereas dissolved oxygen (DO) exhibited the least influence. The operating process was likely to foster diversity of the microbial communities inhabiting the wastewater treatment facilities. Alternative operation methods including a fluctuation of anoxic, oxic, and anaerobic conditions were favorable for promoting the growth of diverse microbial populations in activated sludge systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift of microbial communities during a transition from mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) to thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) was characterized in two treatments. One treatment was inoculated with sludge and the other was inoculated with manure. In this study, methane was produced both in MAD and TAD, but TAD has slightly more methane produced than MAD. A broad phylogenetic spectrum of bacterial, archaeal, and fungal taxa at thermophilic conditions was detected. Coprothermobacter, Bacillus, Haloplasma, Clostridiisalibacter, Methanobacterium, Methanothermobacter, Saccharomycetales, Candida, Alternaria, Cladosporium, and Penicillium were found almost exclusively in TAD, suggesting their adaptation to thermophilic conditions and ecological roles in digesting the organic compounds. The characterization of the lesser-known fungal community revealed that fungi probably constituted an important portion of the overall community within TAD and contributed to this process by degrading complex organic compounds. The shift of the microbial communities between MAD and TAD implied that temperature drastically affected the microbial diversity in anaerobic digestion. In addition, the difference in microbial communities between sludge and manure indicated that different source of inoculum also affected the microbial diversity and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) were utilized for the remediation of soil contaminated with p-nitrophenol (PNP). The effect of treatment time, applied discharge voltage, initial PNP concentration, pH of contaminated soil, and airflow rate were investigated in this study. The results showed that 63.2 % of the PNP in the contaminated soil was degraded in 50 min with a voltage of 38.2 kV with no airflow. This degradation reaction followed the first order reaction kinetics. The degradation by ozone alone was compared with the plasma treatment to identify the role of ozone. Chromatographic analysis was applied to monitor the intermediates produced during the oxidation process, and the main byproducts were maleic acid, p-benzoquinone, 4-nitrocatechol, methanoic acid, acetic acid, oxalic acid, NO , and NO . Possible pathways for the degradation of PNP in this system were deduced, which would provide evidence for the researches about the remediation of soils polluted by organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although oilfields harbor a wide diversity of microorganisms with various metabolic potentials, our current knowledge about oil-degrading bacteria is limited because the vast majority of oil-degrading bacteria remain uncultured. In the present study, microbial communities in nine oil-contaminated soils collected from Daqing and Changqing, two of the largest oil fields in China, were characterized through highthroughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Bacteria related to the phyla Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were dominant in four and three samples, respectively. At the genus level, Alkanindiges, Arthrobacter, Pseudomonas, Mycobacterium, and Rhodococcus were frequently detected in nine soil samples. Many of the dominant genera were phylogenetically related to the known oil-degrading species. The correlation between physiochemical parameters within the microbial communities was also investigated. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that soil moisture, nitrate, TOC, and pH had an important impact in shaping the microbial communities of the hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. This study provided an in-depth analysis of microbial communities in oilcontaminated soil and useful information for future bioremediation of oil contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An erythromycin-degrading bacterium was isolated from the activated sludge of a sewage treatment plant (STP). Based on the morphological and physiological characteristics, the isolated strain was identified and named as Pseudomonas sp. ERY-E. In an inorganic salt medium inoculated at 1 % ( v/ v) of ERY-E strain containing 50 mg/L of erythromycin (ERY), the removal efficiency of ERY as high as 83.7 % was obtained under the optimum conditions with temperature of 30 °C, pH of 7.0, and 10 mg/L of yeast as the external carbon source. Subsequently, the ERY-E strain was used for bioaugmenting a biological aerated filter (BAF) to treat surface water containing low-concentration ERY. The influence of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and air-liquid ratio (A/L) on the performance of BAF was investigated. The average removal efficiencies of ERY and permanganate index (COD) were about 60.6 and 26.1 % in bioaugmented system (BAF) and 26.9 and 26.0 % in unbioaugmented system (BAF), respectively, under the optimum conditions with HRT of 4.0 h and A/L of 4:1 at steady state. Due to the stable removal of COD in BAF as compared with BAF, it can be concluded that the introduction of ERY-E strain could collaborate with the indigenous microorganisms to attain a better ERY removal efficiency. As a result, the bioaugmented BAF method can be considered as an alternative technology for the treatment of surface water containing low-concentration emerging pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotic resistance is a global challenge and represents a growing threat on human health worldwide. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are generally considered as hotspots for control and/or dissemination of antibiotic resistance. The role of antibiotics, antibacterial residues, and heavy metals played on the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance is still not well understood. Here, the occurrence of antibiotics (i.e., macrolides, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, and quinolones), antibacterial residues (i.e., triclosan), as well as heavy metals (i.e., cadmium, chromium, copper, zinc, lead, and nickel) in urban wastewater was investigated. Also, the abundances of erythromycin resistance genes (ERY-ARGs) including ere(A), ere(B), mef(A)/ mef(E), erm(A), erm(B), erm(C), and msr(A)/ msr(B) genes were screened. A relationship between certain antibiotics, antibacterial residues, and heavy metals and ERY-ARGs was demonstrated. ERY presented significant correlations (0.883 < r < 0.929, P < 0.05) with ere(A), ere(B), and mef(A)/ mef(E) genes, while tetracycline exhibited a significant correlation ( r = 0.829, P < 0.05) with erm(B) genes. It is noteworthy that triclosan correlated significantly (0.859 < r < 0.956, P < 0.05) with ere(A), ere(B), mef(A)/ mef(E), and erm(B) genes. In addition, significantly positive correlations (0.823 < r < 0.871, P < 0.05) were observed between zinc and lead and certain ERY-ARGs (i.e., ere(B), mef(A)/ mef(E), erm(B), etc.). Further investigations should be involved to elucidate the co-selection and/or cross-selection mechanisms due to co-existence of these selective factors in urban wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development and utilization of low-cost and effective adsorbents for the adsorption processes is a research focus in recent years. In this work, the porous and flexible film was prepared without any pretreatment from the feather keratin deposits produced during the extraction of soluble keratin from chicken feathers. Characteristics of the prepared biosorbent were investigated using thermogravimetric apparatus, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, and scanning electron microscopy. Batch adsorption assays were carried out to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. The results showed that the extent of MB adsorption on the biosorbent increased with an increase in initial dye concentration, contact time, solution pH, and biosorbent dosage. The equilibrium data were best described by Langmuir isotherm than other isotherm models. The maximum monolayer adsorption uptake was 156.5 mg/g at pH 7 for an initial dye concentration of 200 mg/l. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption process of MB followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Nevertheless, the intra-particle diffusion model confirmed that the adsorption of MB was a two-step process: a rapid surface adsorption followed by intra-particle diffusion. Thermodynamic parameters such as Δ G°, Δ H°, and Δ S° were calculated, indicating that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iopromide has been frequently detected in different environmental compartments. However, the biodegradation of iopromide was limited, and significantly different removal efficiencies by various methods were reported. In this study, a Pseudomonas sp. I-24 isolated from activated sludge in a sewage treatment plant was used to degrade iopromide. Four different cosubstrates were selected as the cometabolic carbon and energy sources. The results showed that cosubstrate starch was able to increase catabolic enzymatic activity and enhance iopromide degradation. The degradation efficiency of iopromide was as high as 88.24 %, which was much higher as compared with other cosubstrates (38.58-51.44 %) and blank sample (2.81 %). Additionally, the highest enzymatic activity of 0.182 mU for iopromide degradation was also obtained when adding starch as a cosubstrate, somehow supporting that higher enzymatic activity resulted in higher degradation efficiency for iopromide. Although little was illuminated about the molecular mechanism during the degradation process of iopromide with starch addition, the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis results indicated that the iopromide-degrading cells growing with cosubstrate starch underwent significant physiological changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:To elucidate the roles of receptor tyrosine kinases RET and VEGFR2 and the RAF/MEK/ERK signaling cascade in cancer treatment with sorafenib.Methods:The cell lines A549, HeLa, and HepG2 were tested. The enzyme activity was examined under cell-free conditions using 384-well microplate assays. Cell proliferation was evaluated using the Invitrogen Alarmar Blue assay. Gene expression was analyzed using the Invitrogen SYBR Green expression assays with a sequence detection system. Protein expression analysis was performed using Western blotting.Results:Sorafenib potently suppressed the activities of cRAF, VEGFR2, and RET with IC50 values of 20.9, 4 and 0.4 nmol/L, respectively. Sorafenib inhibited cRAF, VEGFR2, and RET via non-ATP-competitive, ATP-competitive and mixed-type modes, respectively. In contrast, sorafenib exerted only moderate cytotoxic effects on the proliferation of the 3 cell lines. The IC50 values for inhibition of A549, HeLa, and HepG2 cells were 8572, 4163, and 8338 nmol/L, respectively. In the 3 cell lines, sorafenib suppressed the cell proliferation mainly by blocking the MEK/ERK downstream pathway at the posttranscriptional level, which in turn regulated related gene expression via a feed-back mechanism.Conclusion:This study provides novel evidence that protein kinases RET and VEGFR2 play crucial roles in cancer treatment with sorafenib. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses results of a study conducted to know chemical constituents of Portulaca oleracea, widely used potherb in the Mediterranean and Central European and Asian Countries and listed in the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most widely used medicinal plants. Topics discussed include use of Portulaca as a diuretic, antiseptic, antiscorbutic, febrifuge, antispasmodic and vermifuge and isolation of 12 nitrogen-containing compounds from Portulaca.